Monday, May 16, 2016

Being the CEO of your Own Career

I was recently asked to be the guest speaker for the 2016 induction ceremony for Beta Gamma Sigma at Ithaca College. The talk I gave was entitled "Being the CEO of your Own Career". The key point is that you should view your career as if you are the CEO of a corporation, and these are some traits of entrepreneurial CEO's. Here are the key points from that talk:

Entrepreneurs Focus on Results

Reputation is Tough to build, Easy to ruin

Entrepreneurs don’t do the “bare minimum”

Entrepreneurs Ask for things

It’s not all about the money

We are all Startup CEO's

1. Entrepreneurs Focus on Results

A start CEO's title really stands for "Chief Everything Else Officer" because they are the person who has to get it done if noone else has done it. By focusing on results, not actions, you'll see your work from a customer's standpoint: a job that is 90% done is "not done". Your boss and employer is your customer, so they will view the work you do the same way.

2. Reputation is Tough to build, Easy to ruin

In business, your reputation is key. The best opportunities come from people who know your reputation, and opportunities are missed that you never knew about because of your reputation, so protect it. An entrepreneur friend of mine is fond of saying "Treat every decision as the decision that may define you, because it might".

3. Entrepreneurs don’t do the “bare minimum”

I see this a lot from students who want to figure out what the smallest amount they can possibly do to get a grade. Entrepreneurs don't do that. They want to over deliver and delight their customers. They go places and do things that they think will help their business, even when there is not a direct correlation to a business result.

4. Entrepreneurs Ask for things

Don't wait to be given a promotion, a raise, or more responsibility. Ask for it. Entrepreneurs aren't given a sale, the ask for the sale.

5. It’s not all about the money

Figure out what makes you happy, and rarely is it $. Few entrepreneurs I meet are in it for the money. They're in it for the lifestyle, and it's because it's a lifestyle that they define.

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About Me

I've been the Founding CEO of a few startups, been an executive and board member at a few more, and advised hundreds who have raised and earned $millions. I did my formal training in engineering at North Carolina State, and in business at Cornell. I work, teach, and live in Ithaca, New York.